Smoke
by Madeleine DeAngelo
Summary: Arthur Trent and Hope Cahill knew their enemy, but never expected it to go this far...


**Sorry I haven't had any activity on Fanfiction lately...sorry. So I decided that before I work on a sequel (yes! A sequel!) to "What now?", I wanted to work on something of my own. Since in The 39 Clues, they never really mentioned how Hope and Arthur died, I wanted to make a scene of my own. It's a one chapter story, obviously, so...enjoy! **

Arthur Trent walked nervously to the door. Nervous, because he knew who he was going to see. Isabel Kabra stood in front of him.

"You're looking well, Arthur. How is Hope, and the new baby? A girl, I believe. I had a boy a while back," she said in a false, sweet tone.

"What do you want Isabel?" Arthur asked, getting straight to the point.

"My, my. So hast. Won't you treat your guest to a cup of coffee, maybe?" Sighing, Arthur led Isabel to the kitchen, where his wife, Hope Cahill, was feeding their baby girl, Amy Cahill. Hope looked back and forth, at Isabel's normal triumphant face and her husband's tired expression. Amy, who was now clutched against her mother's chest, looked with wide eyes, as if knowing there was trouble.

"Isabel," Hope said, rigidly. Isabel sat down, and Arthur handed her a cup. Arthur sat next to Hope. "What do you want?"

"To give _you_ another chance," Isabel said, sipping her drink.

"We already said no," Arthur reminded her. "What else do you want from us?"

"For you to understand that it will be good if we work together," Isabel said.

"Work with the others, maybe you could use Alistair's brain, but not us. Leave us out," Hope said. Isabel sighed, heavily.

"Someday, you will understand. And you will come to me, for mercy. And who knows if I might have any." Laughing bitterly, Isabel left the house.

* * *

><p>Three years later<p>

"Mommy's a little sore right now, sweetie. We can see her later." Arthur picked up Amy and put her down. Three year old Amy pouted.

"But I want to see the baby, _now, _Daddy, now!" Amy jumped off the bed, but before she could get far, her dad pulled her back.

"Well, he has your eyes. The same, sparkling jade green eyes."

"What's jade green? Is she here?"

"It's a _color_, Amy." Amy looked disappointed. Arthur tucked her in and left the room to his own. Their baby boy, Dan, layed down peacefully, playing with his mothers fingers. Before he knew what was going on, Amy was by her brother.

"Dan," she muttered, softly. Dan looked at his older sister, and started to smile. "You look like a nin...like a nij..." Hope looked at Arthur.

"Have you been watching ninja movies with Amy?" She asked. Arthur looked down.

"Of course not. You need to rest, honey."

"Any news from you-know-who?" Hope asked. They had been playing that "you-know-who" game since they saw Harry Potter.

"She left a message. Apparently, she's having a girl. Same thing, still trying to get us to cooperate." Hope shook her head miserably.

"When will she ever give up?"

"When she gets us to surrender." They both watched as Dan moved on to his sisters fingers, put them in his mouth, and started chewing on them. Amy yelped and jumped back, and it looked as if the baby was grinning.

* * *

><p>Four years later<p>

Four year old Dan sat on his father's lap in the living room after dinner. Hope was knitting and Amy was reading. Dan was blabbering away to his dad.

"So Leo had to save his brothers, and at the end, they said 'Super Ninja Turtles!' It was _so_ cool, Dwaddy! I wanna be a Ninja too!" Unlike Amy, Dan spoke like most four year olds would. Hope looked at her daughter.

"Are you sure you're supposed to be reading a book like that, Amy?" She asked.

"Mommy, it's _Great Expectations_. Didn't you like it when you read it?" Amy said.

"I was eleven."

"And I'm seven! It rhymes!" Amy realized and cheered at her new discovery.

"You are a gweek, Amy," Dan muttered.

"We're not Greeks, Danny," Arthur said, prying his son's hands off of the fake sword.

"Not Gweek, _gweek_," Dan tried again. Hope looked worriedly at Dan.

"Are you okay, honey?"

"Amy is Gweek!" Dan started pounding his puny fists on his father's lap.

"Do you think he's speaking code?" Hope asked Arthur.

"Why would a four year old use codes?" Arthur said.

"Gweek! GWEEK!" Dan flapped his arms. Amy started to giggle, and then laugh out loud.

"He's calling me a _geek_. He's a dweeb," Amy said.

"Don't call your brother that," Arthur said, sternly.

"Where did you learn that word?" Hope asked.

"Ian Kabra. He says it's okay to call Dan that." A dreamy look crossed Amy's face. She sighed. "Ian..." Arthur mentally stuck a finger down his throat. (**Ha ha, I know. They're only seven...XD**)

"When did you see Ian Kabra, sweetie?" Hope continued. "It's very important."

"He was across the street. He says his 'mummy' was planning on visiting." Amy scrunched her eyebrows. "He also said that the other branches came. I asked 'What are branches? Tree branches?' He laughed and called me a _dweeb_!" Amy crossed her arms. "He said that his 'mummy' doesn't want you to know she's coming. So I said 'Why not?' and Ian covered his mouth." Hope and Arthur locked eyes.

_What do you think she's going to do? _Hope's eyes seemed to be asking.

_Maybe it was the last straw? _Arthur thought back.

_But we didn't do anything!_ Hope protested. Arthur shrugged. Dan started pulling on Arthurs sleeve.

"What is it?" Arthur asked.

"Smoke," Dan said. Amy started sniffing the air.

"What do you mean?" Hope asked Dan.

"He means smoke, Mommy! I smell smoke!" Amy yelped. That's when they noticed dark smoke clouds covering their windows.

(**Outside**)

"Does Izzy know the flames are going wild?" Mary-Todd Holt asked. "She said-"

"Isabel was lying," Alistair Oh suddenly realized through clenched teeth. "She doesn't care if Hope and Arthur are killed."

"Children! There are _children_ in there, the same age as my Hammy and my pumpkins," Eisenhower Holt exclaimed.

"But Isabel said to do _nothing_," Cora Wizard protested. "Leave it to her."

"But the fire! Look!" Mary-Todd yelled. Everyone looked at the house and realized their mistake. It was up to the windows now. They saw Arthur grabbing the kids and Hope splashing water.

"We have to do something!" Alistair whipped out his phone. "Call 911."

"I'll try to slow down the flames." Eisenhower grabbed the nearest neighbors hose and started spraying it towards the house.

"Yes, it's an emergency. Please get here as fast as you can...hurry..." Cora was saying into the phone.

(**Isabel)**

Isabel Kabra watched with a smile at the house. Then she noticed the non Lucians on the phone, and Dolt spraying water.

"What are those fools doing?" She snarled to herself. But she sat back, and watched.

(**Inside**)

"Daddy! Daddy!" Amy clutched her brothers hand and called. They were at the door. Hope ran back, with a backpack, and put it on Amy's shoulder.

"Where is your dad?" She asked.

"He ran! Daddy said he had to get something in the study!" Amy whimpered. Hope realized what her husband was trying to do. _It isn't worth it_, she thought.

"Wait here," Hope said. She heard some sirens, and realized a fire truck was coming. "Tell them...just go! Get out of the house, now!" Amy wouldn't budge and started crying, along with Dan. Hope bent down and hugged both of them, tight. "Go now, and tell the fire fighters we are still in here. Go." Tears coming to her eyes, she watched her two children go out the door and into the fire mans arms.

"Hope!" She saw Arthur running towards her. She met him half way.

"I sent the kids..." Hope started to cough.

"We...can get out...now," Arthur gasped. They saw the leaders of each Cahill branch outside, telling the fire fighters there were still people inside. All except for Isabel. As Hope and Arthur started running towards the door, a huge blast of fire knocked them out, darkness surrounding them.

(**Outside the house**)

"Dwaddy! Mommy!" Dan cried. A huge man in yellow held him tight. "They awe in there! Help mommy and dwaddy!" Alistair held Amy. Just then, a huge burst of fire exploded. Then...quiet.

_Isabel must have thought they weren't dying faster,_ Alistair thought.

_What have we done?_ The Holts thought.

_It wasn't supposed to be like this,_ Cora said to herself. _Wrong. It's all going wrong._

The fire fighters ran inside the house, shutting off the fire. Five minutes later, two men came out, holding the broken forms of Arthur and Hope. The neighbors were all outside. Amy burst into tears, along with Dan, who wasn't sobbing out loud, but seemed to be in shock, tears streaming down his face. Amy ran to her brother and held him tight, vowing she would never leave his side. Alistair took of his hat, and held it in his hands.

_I'm sorry,_ he thought, before walking away.


End file.
